<p>Here we demonstrate the use of a switchable reagent ion proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry (SRI-PTR-MS) instrument to improve the instrument&#39;s selectivity for the detection of the explosive compounds 2,4,6 trinitrotoluene (TNT), 1,3,5 trinitrobenzene (TNB), pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), and cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine (RDX). Selectivity is improved owing to the production of different product ions resulting from changes in the reagent ion-molecule chemistry. To be of use as an analytical tool for homeland security applications, it is important that the reagent ions (and hence product ions) can be rapidly changed (within seconds) from H3O+ to another dominant ion species if the technology is to be acceptable. This paper presents measurements that show how it is possible to rapidly switch the reagent ion from H3O+ to either O2+ or NO+ to enhance selectivity for the detection of the four explosives named above. That switching reagent ions can be done quickly results from the fact that the recombination energies of O2+ and NO+ are less than the ionisation potential of H2O, i.e. charge transfer cannot occur which otherwise would result in ions that can react efficiently with water (e.g. H2O+ + H2O &rarr; H3O+ + OH) leading to H3O+ becoming the dominant reagent ion. Reaction processes observed are non-dissociative charge transfer (O2+ with TNT and TNB), dissociative charge transfer (O2+ with TNT) and adduct formation (NO+ with PETN and RDX). O2+ is found to be unreactive with PETN and RDX, and under the conditions operating in the reaction region of the PTR-MS only a low signal associated with NO+&middot;TNT was observed. No NO+&middot;TNB was detected.</p>

Security and protection against terrorist attacks are major issues in modern society. One especially challenging task is the monitoring and protection of air conditioning and heating systems of buildings against terrorist attacks with toxic chemicals. As existing technologies have low selectivity, long response times or insufficient sensitivity, there is a need for a novel approach such as we present here.We have analyzed various chemical warfare agents (CWAs) and/or toxic industrial compounds (TICs) and related compounds, namely phosgene, diphosgene, chloroacetone, chloroacetophenone, diisopropylaminoethanol, and triethyl phosphate, utilizing a high-resolution proton-transfer-reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometry (PTR-TOFMS) instrument with the objective of finding key product ions and their intensities, which will allow a low-resolution quadrupole mass spectrometry based PTR-MS system to be used with high confidence in the assignment of threat agents in the atmosphere.We obtained high accuracy PTR-TOFMS mass spectra of the six compounds under study at two different values for the reduced electric field in the drift tube (E/N). From these data we have compiled a table containing product ions, and isotopic and E/N ratios for highly selective threat compound detection with a compact and cost-effective quadrupole-based PTR-MS instrument. Furthermore, using chloroacetophenone (tear gas), we demonstrated that this instrument's response is highly linear in the concentration range of typical Acute Exposure Guideline Levels (AEGLs).On the basis of the presented results it is possible to develop a compact and cost-effective PTR-QMS instrument that monitors air supply systems and triggers an alarm as soon as the presence of a threat agent is detected. We hope that this real-time surveillance device will help to seriously improve safety and security in environments vulnerable to terrorist attacks with toxic chemicals.

Proton transfer reaction-mass spectrometry (PTR-MS) offers many advantages for trace gas analysis, including no sample preparation, real-time analysis, high selectivity and sensitivity, ultra-low detection limits and very short response times. These characteristic features have made it an ideal tool for many applications in science, technology and society. Here we will discuss recent developments, in particular advances concerning sensitivity, selectivity and general applicability.

At the "Future Security 2011" we presented an overview of our studies on the "Detection and Identification of Illicit and Hazardous Substances with Proton-Transfer-Reaction Mass Spectrometry (PTR-MS)" including first results on explosives, chemical warfare agents and illicit and prescribed drugs detection. Since then we have considerably extended these preliminary studies to the detection of defined traces of some of the most common explosives, namely TNT, PETN, TATP, and DATP deposited into aluminum foam bodies, and to the detection of a number of novel and widely unknown designer drugs: ethylphenidate, 4-fluoroamphetamine and dimethocaine. Moreover, we have dramatically improved our time-of-flight based PTR-MS instruments by substantially increasing their sensitivity and hence lowering the detection limit, making them even more suitable and applicable to threat agents with extremely low vapour pressures. Data from measurements on certified gas standards are presented in order to underline these statements. The data demonstrate that, in comparison to the first generation instruments, a gain of one order of magnitude in terms of sensitivity and detection limit has been obtained.

In the course of the FP7-SEC project "SPIRIT" (Safety and Protection of built Infrastructure to Resist Integral Threats) we focused our research with Proton-Transfer-Reaction Mass Spectrometry (PTR-MS) on C-agents, specifically Toxic Industrial Compounds (TICs). Most TICs are readily available and represent a considerable threat when used in terroristic attacks. We show the principal procedure of PTR-MS detection measurements on two chemicals, namely phosgene and chloroacetone. With studies of the former we want to point out principle differences between measurements on a quadrupole mass filter based and a Time-of-Flight-based PTR-MS instrument and point out the respective benefits and drawbacks. For the latter we present the results of a diluted headspace measurement and illustrate the connection with security standards in buildings.

We present here a slightly modified PTR-MS instrument that is not only capable to ionize trace compounds in air via proton-transfer-reactions (PTR) but is also able to ionize via charge-transfer-reactions (CTR) with help of reagent ions (Kr+ in particular) possessing higher ionization energies than common air constituents. This means that with minor adaptations a common PTR-MS instrument can be used for the analysis of nearly all available substance classes by using both PTR and/or CTR ionization. Especially in environmental research, the field of application where PTR-MS is used most widely, now not only trace volatile organic compounds (benzene, toluene, etc.) but additionally also very important (inorganic) substances, such as CO, CO2, CH4, NOx, and SO2, can be detected and quantified with the same instrument. As all ionizing agents are produced in a hollow cathode discharge ion source with good purity no additional mass filter is needed for reagent ion selection (as in other analytical methods employed) and remaining reagent ion impurities can be clearly distinguished from isobaric sample compounds due to the high mass resolution of the time-of-flight mass spectrometer used in the present PTR-MS instrument (PTR-TOF 8000). We present data obtained with various gas standards ranging from a “classical” PTR-MS aromatics mixture to samples containing molecules possessing ionization energies all the way up to 14 eV (CO).

1. Indirect induced plant defence via emission of herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPV) to recruit natural enemies of herbivores is a ubiquitous phenomenon, but whether and how emission of above-ground HIPVs is adaptively modulated by below-ground mutualistic micro-organisms is unknown. 2. We investigated the effects of the mycorrhizal fungus Glomus mosseae on chemical composition of HIPVs emitted by bean plants Phaseolus vulgaris attacked by spider mites, Tetranychus urticae, using proton-transfer mass spectrometry, and attraction of the spider mites’ natural enemy, the predatory mite Phytoseiulus persimilis, to these HIPVs using a Y-tube olfactometer. 3. Mycorrhiza significantly changed the HIPV composition. Most notably, it increased the emission of β-ocimene and β-caryophyllene, two compounds synthesized de novo upon spider mite attack. The constitutively emitted methyl salicylate was increased by spider mite infestation but decreased by mycorrhiza. 4. The predators responded strongly to HIPVs emitted by plants infested for 6 days and preferred HIPVs of mycorrhizal plants to those of non-mycorrhizal plants. In contrast, they were less responsive and indiscriminative to mycorrhization when exposed to volatiles emitted by non-infested plants and plants infested by spider mites for 1 or 3 days. 5. Our study provides a key example of an adaptive indirect HIPV-mediated interaction of a below-ground micro-organism with an above-ground carnivore.

Fears of terrorist attacks have led to the development of various technologies for the real-time detection of explosives, but all suffer from potential ambiguities in the assignment of threat agents. Using proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry (PTR-MS), an unusual bias dependence in the detection sensitivity of 2,4,6 trinitrotoluene (TNT) on the reduced electric field (E/N) has been observed. For protonated TNT, rather than decreasing signal intensity with increasing E/N, which is the more usual sensitivity pattern observed in PTR-MS studies, an anomalous behavior is first observed, whereby the signal intensity initially rises with increasing E/N. We relate this to unexpected ion-molecule chemistry based upon comparisons of measurements taken with related nitroaromatic compounds (1,3,5 trinitrobenzene, 1,3 dinitrobenzene, and 2,4 dinitrotoluene) and electronic structure calculations. This dependence provides an easily measurable signature that can be used to provide a rapid highly selective analytical procedure to minimize false positives for the detection of TNT. This has major implications for Homeland Security and, in addition, has the potential of making instrumentation cost-effective for use in security areas. This study shows that an understanding of fundamental ion-molecule chemistry occurring in low-pressure drift tubes is needed to exploit selectivity and sensitivity for analytical purposes.

In this work, we illustrate the application of proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry (PTR-MS) in the field of food and drink safety. We present proof-of-principle measurements of four different drinks (water, tea, red wine and white wine) each spiked separately with four different date rape drugs (chloral hydrate, tricholorethanol, γ-butyrolactone and butanediol). At first, the ideal PTR-MS operating conditions (reduced electric field strength and monitoring the most abundant [fragment] ion) for detection of the drugs were determined utilizing a time-of-flight-based PTR-MS instrument. We then dissolved small quantities of the drugs (below the activation threshold for effects on humans) into the various types of drinks and detected them using a quadrupole-based PTR-MS instrument via two different sampling methods: (1) dynamic headspace sampling and (2) direct liquid injection. Both methods have their advantages and drawbacks. Only with dynamic headspace sampling can rape drug contaminations be detected within a timeframe of seconds, and therefore, this method is the most promising use of PTR-MS as a fast, sensitive and selective monitor for the detection of food and drink contamination.

Since many years PTR-MS is a well established technique in trace gas analysis with its major advantages of having very short response times of below 100ms and outstanding detection limits in the single digit pptv region. However, the quadrupole mass filter based instruments used so far cannot separate isobaric compounds due to lack of mass resolution. To overcome this problem Ionicon developed the so called PTR-TOF 8000 instrument, which couples the well established PTR ionization technique with a high resolution time-of-flight (TOF) mass analyzer. In contrast to a quadrupole based PTR-MS where only one nominal mass at a time can be monitored, the PTR-TOF acquires whole mass spectra in split-seconds at a resolution of up to 8.000 m/{delta}m (FWHM). As there might be applications where an enormous mass resolution is not necessarily needed, but the sensitivity has to be as high as possible, we now developed an instrument (called PTR-TOF 2000) that performs with an enhanced sensitivity at the expense of a somewhat lower mass resolution.

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